Buffalo Sabres Flip The Script And Turn In A Complete Game In Edmonton

The Buffalo Sabres looked nothing like the team that stunk up the joint on opening night.

Damn, Daniel!

Sorry, coach – it is okay if I call you Daniel, since most days you just go by Dan?

Chances are, you don’t care right now, as you’re still riding high after watching your Buffalo Sabres dismantle the high-flying Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 Sunday evening.  So, like I said:

Damn, Daniel!  What up with those Sabres?

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Let’s start with the obvious: your team looked terrible in its season/home opener Thursday night.  Getting drubbed 4-1 by the Montreal Canadiens had to light a fire under your team’s collective ass, because the Sabres looked very focused right from the start at the Rogers Place Sunday.  Wouldn’t it be nice to start every game with the energy and intensity?  I bet Rob Ray would love being able to stop saying “The Sabres came out a little flat” at the end of first periods – Lord knows he has had to say that a lot the past few seasons.

And clearly having Kyle Okposo in the lineup for the first time this season helped immensely.  The second-biggest free agent in the summer of 2016 scored on his first shot as a Sabre and added an assist, which is exactly why he was brought into the 716.

But if you look at the stats, and more importantly if you watched the damn game, you’ll see that this victory was truly a team effort.  Ryan O’Reilly treated himself to a career-best 4 points in his 500th game in the NHL.   Three defensemen scored at least one point, with Rasmus Ristolainen notching 3 assists.  The temporarily ageless Brian Gionta netted 2 goals, while the resurgent Matt Moulson picked up his second power play goal of the season.  When it was all said and done, ten different Sabres players picked up at least one point, with four players scoring multiple points.

But as good as the offensive production was last night, you absolutely have to give the the forwards, blueliners and goaltender Robin Lehner a round of applause for their effort on the defensive side of the ice.  For starters, if you had watched Connor McDavid play at all before Sunday night, you would have predicted another multiple-point game for him.  Instead, he was held without a shot for 48 minutes and finished with zero points, one SOG, and a -1 for his efforts.

That’s impressive s**t right there, and you can thank the Shutdown Line of Gionta, Marcus Foligno, and Johan Larsson as well as  . . . Josh Gorges?!?

Prior to the game, approximately NOBODY was feeling good about Gorges and some of the less, ah, mobile Buffalo Sabres defensemen being able to sop McDavid:

Give credit where credit is due, though: Gorges (and the rest of the blueliners, but mostly Gorges) put on body on McDavid whenever he could and never allowed him to get the puck where he wanted to get it.

The cynic in me will say, “Enjoy it, because it’s never going to happen again” . . . but for now, let’s just enjoy it!

Next: Sabres Still Treated Like Trash By NHL DPOS

Just as Buffalo Sabres fans should not have seriously entertained talk of “tanking” following the loss to Montreal, so should we all have some perspective following last night’s win.  The Oilers looked sloppy and over-confident, and the Sabres played smart and took advantage of that.  All in all, it was the blueprint for success – now will this team follow it from here on out?

It’s all up to you, Daniel!